Manuscripts may be any genre for children ages 5-12, or young adult ages 12-18. Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color or native children by providing stories they can identify with and which promote greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to non-traditional family structures, gender identity, or disabilities are also of interest.

Contestants must meet all of the following criteria to be considered:

Self-identify as a person of color or a Native/indigenous person.

Be at least 18 years old at the time of entry.

Be a resident of the United States.

Must not be agented.

The Award winner receives a cash prize of $2000 and their standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $1000.

But the window for submission is closing soon! All manuscripts must be submitted no later than August 31, 2018. Be sure to read their entire guidelines before submitting. As always, good luck!

The Writing in the Margins is a website dedicated to helping underrepresented authors find their place in the publishing industry. They have a Mentor Program which pairs an emerging author from a marginalized social group with an experienced editor or traditionally published author in order to work closely on preparing an unpublished manuscript to submit for publication. All authors and editors work on a completely volunteer basis, and there is no charge to the emerging author. Applications are open twice a year, and necessary applicant qualifications are highlighted prior to the submission period. Deadline for this round is April 15, 2018. Material required to submit:

Hodder & Stoughton, John Murray Press (Hachette Imprint) will be opening for unagented submissions on December 1, 2017 (12am GMT) and close on December 7, 2017 (11:59pm GMT) for THE FUTURE BOOKSHELF! Although this is an United Kingdom publisher, they will be taking international submissions for fiction and non-fiction. This is an exciting opportunity because big houses don’t often open their doors to unagented writers.

Some of the authors Hodder & Stoughton publishes is Stephen King, Martina Cole, Jodi Picoult, The Sidemen, Stieg Larsson, Trevor Noah, David Mitchell, Andrea Levy, Katie Piper, Mo Farrah, Graham Norton, and many more. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be one of the great writers added to this list?

If chosen, you will get paid an advance and royalties. They’ll set you up with an editor and publicist, as well as have a marketing campaign. So, you’ll get all the perks of a bestselling author! A few of the rules are:

Must be over 18.

An underrepresented writerly category (see their guidelines for descriptions).

Fiction (any genre) and non-fiction works must be over 50,000 words.

Must be written in English.

But they have more requirements than this. For complete rules and how to submit, go here. As always, good luck!

Tu Books, the middle grade and young adult imprint of Lee & Low Books will be closing submissions soon for the New Visions Award. Established in 2012, this award is given annually to an unpublished author of color for a middle grade or young adult manuscript. Previous winners include the award-winning Ink and Ashes as well as the forthcoming novels Ahimsa and Rebel Seoul.

Manuscripts may be novels or graphic novels in any fictional genre for children ages 8 to 12 or young adults ages 12 to 18. Manuscripts should address the needs of children and teens of color by providing stories the can identify with and which promote greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to LGBTQ+ topics or disabilities may also be included.

Contestants must meet all of the following criteria to be considered:

Self-identify as a person of color or a Native/indigenous person.

Be at least 18 years old at the time of entry.

Be a resident of the United States.

Not have had a middle grade or young adult novel published.

The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1,000 and their standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500.

Please read the submission guidelines before sending. But be quick, all entries must be postmarked by October 31, 2017. As always, good luck!

The search for diversity within books has increased, not just with secondary characters but main characters. The world wants to see a fabulous palette of colors and cultures among the stories they read and the publishing industry is responding! This prompted literary agent Beth Phelan of The Bent Agency to create DVpit.

According to the site, #DVpitis a twitter event created to showcase pitches about and by marginalized voices. This includes (but is not limited to): Native peoples and people of color; people living and/or born/raised in underrepresented cultures and countries; disabled persons; people with illness; people on marginalized ends of the socioeconomic, cultural and/or religious spectrum; people identifying as LGBTQIA+; and more.

October 3rd, 2017 will be for Adult Fiction/Nonfiction (all genres, commercial and literary).

Each day the event will run from 8am-8pm ET using the hashtag #DVpit. Be sure and pitch your manuscript on the correct day because agents/editors will search the feed on the specific day of the categories they represent/acquire.

Manuscripts may be FICTION, NON-FICTION, or POETRY for children ages 5-12. Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color or native children by providing stories they can identify with and which promote greater understanding of one another. Themes relating to non-traditional family structures, gender identity, or disabilities are also of interest.

Contestants must meet all of the following criteria to be considered:

Self-identify as a person of color or a Native/indigenous person.

Be at least 18 years old at the time of entry.

Be a resident of the United States.

Not have had a children’s picture book published.

The Award winner receives a cash prize of $1000 and their standard publication contract, including their basic advance and royalties for a first time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500.

But the window for submission is closing soon! All manuscripts must be postmarked no later than September 30, 2017. Be sure to read their entire guidelines before submitting. As always, good luck!